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Lying suburbanites continue to try to get their kids into Boston exam schools
By adamg on Fri, 04/23/2010 - 8:21am
City Councilor John Tobin wants a year-long residency requirement just to take the ISEE test that helps determine whether a kid gets accepted into either of the two Latin schools or the O'Bryant.
Ed. Note: Despite what the story, in a Boston newspaper, says, it only takes sweat and tears - and hard work - to get into an exam school. No blood is normally shed.
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Comments
OK, admit it ;-)
OK, Adam, you're going to get caught eventually. Just admit now that you really live in Wellesley and have a ghost address in W Rox, and maybe they'll let you off easy. ;-)
Does anybody else see the irony in this? The scenario is usually people fleeing to the burbs for the better schools, but here we have the opposite. Pretty funny.
I don't see how Boston can even think of letting outsiders into their schools, and an applicant should be a resident at application time.
Accusing me of being a fake Westie resident? That's despicable
Everybody knows I'm a fake Roslindale resident.
The residency-at-application-time idea sounds good, but what about people who are legitimately moving to Boston from somewhere else? I realize that by paying Boston taxes all these years and sending the kidlet to a Boston public school since kindergarten, we've paid our dues, etc., etc., but do we want to discourage people from moving here? It's also an issue at the other end of the line, for pre-school and kindergarten, because they essentially have applications, too.
I take your point
if we can have three exam schools that produce top students with the same level of success that prestigious private schools do, why cant we have four or even five if necessary to accommodate all the students who qualify?
If we had the capacity, why not take students from other districts who qualify and collect out of district revenue from the towns they come from?
Me! Now!
There's this concept... perhaps they've heard of it? It's called "waiting".
Either that or move to the city early enough to qualify.
Except ...
While I'm sure there are people who move to Boston because they have loved the place since reading about Paul Revere in grade school or whatever, what about somebody who gets a job offer here? It's not like they'll move here six months in advance hoping to get that offer.
But, yeah, that could work for the exam schools (if not K-1), since you can take the test before ninth grade as well.
If I get a job offer to move
If I get a job offer to move here, I look at the schools and I wonder, do I live in Newton and send my kid to the new Newton North, or do I move into the city and have to make my kid go to a crappy school for a year before transferring to an exam school. I'm sorry, but I'm never going into Boston under that situation.
You don't have to attend the Boston Public Schools....
...prior to taking the test, one can go to a private (or parochial) school -- even one not in Boston -- so long as the child (and family) _live_ in Boston.
Agreed
A waiting period, as Tobin proposes, would discourage talented education-minded people from moving to the City. Its also unjust. If you genuinely live in the City you should be able to send your kids to the public schools regardless of how long you have lived here. I am sure there are some long term residents who would argue you should have to live here 5 years and pay into the system before you can send your kids to the schools but few would support that (I would hope).
The better solution would be to keep enforcing the residency requirement and requiring people who violate the requirement to repay the cost of the education their child has received. Put a lien on a few suburbanites' houses for a $20K+ judgment and that will deter others from playing both sides of the fence. I know that the Brookline public schools have a policy of charging-back violators of the residency policy, so there is no reason Boston couldn't implement the same.
Men have been shot for less ;-)
Oops, sorry for the Westie screwup, hope I didn't embarrass you too badly.....
Anyways, I admit it's a tough call. Maybe it's best just to weed out the obvious scoflaws.
What happens later?
What if your kid is older - say in 10th grade and is a budding rocket scientist - can he/she get into Latin or are you "too late". Can you only get in at the entry points (is it 6th and 9th grades?). If that's the case I'd say the one year waiting period really isn't too much different.
Adam - as a proud parent can you fill us in on a couple of the salient entry conditions?
Yep, too late, there are just two chances
For 7th and 9th grades (so you'd take the test in 6th or 9th grade). Otherwise, forget it.
Also, at least for BLS, there is no waiting list (not sure about the other two schools). The results packet makes it quite clear - there's an FAQ that has a question along the lines of "My daughter missed the cutoff by just three places; what if four people ahead of her decide not to go?" to which the answer is, basically "Tough" (they tell you just what place you came in out of how many applicants and where the cutoff is).
then one year residency sounds fair
No difference between moving here when your kid is "randomly" in 10th or 8th grade and you are out of luck if you move in too late - so I think the one year residency is fair. This all may become moot as we get better schools through the recent school reform bill lifting the cap on charters.
I think the Latin school still has one huge draw which may be the big enticement for these suburbanites - I understand that there is a deal with Harvard that a couple dozen Latin students get in every year when they would probably never take more than a few from any other single school in the country. So if you aspire to get into Harvard - Latin offers a slightly easier route - but you still have to rank in the top of your class.
damn suburbanite kids at BLS
You do hear about kids from Concord etc taking the test, and their parents selling a million dollar house to move to W Roxbury. Supposedly your kid can get preferential consideration towards college simply by coming from an "urban" school. The key is to move here AFTER the kid gets in.
As for these kids not being in BPS; kids in private school can take the exam too, I'm sure plenty of the kids at latin school are from catholic or other private schools. This is certainly the case at latin academy though I doubt somebody from Concord would move here to send their kid to the #2 school.
Your kid can go to latin school and get high grades, but still wind up at UMASS because of money. I'm amazed at how many people think the school is a ticket to anything, and game the system... when will people understand that it's up to the kid to make their own life and they might as well start now.
There are three...
the O'Bryant accepts a limited number of students to 10th grade.
Exam schools in the suburbs?
Why don't some of the suburban towns have exam schools? After all, there are regional vocational and agricultural high schools. There seems to be a damand for them...
Exam schools no great deal
The exam schools aren't all they are cracked up to be. For one thing, a lot of kids flunk out. Boston Latin in particular has a "sink or swim" ethos.
It shouldn't be a surprise that some kids do well coming out of there. Is that only a statement on the quality of education? After all, they are skimming the cognitive cream off of the city. A lot of these kids would do well anywhere.
If a kid is a highly motivated and diligent student, they will do well. Other teenagers, especially boys, may not do as well. The sex ratio at Latin is unbalanced - 55 female to 45 male - and I think it becomes more in the higher grades as males flunk out disproportionally.
The schools have their share of urban problems, including lots of drugs, gangs, and in a case not too long ago, a ring of girls at BLS who were alleged to be working as escorts.
Killjoy!
Shall we recite the litany of problems at suburban and rural high schools in America? Basically, you're saying no school is perfect. Agreed.
The dropout rate at BLS has supposedly dropped in recent years as they get away from that "sink or swim" mentality. At least, that's what they told us at the open house. Guess I'll find out. Me, I'm more concerned about how the kidlet's going to get to the place from our mountain fastness than her becoming a vampire (for one thing, she couldn't stand the "Twilight" books).
Our kids figured out various ways to get to BLS
The easiest (but not fastest) way is taking the 50 to Washington St. -- and then waiting for the dedicated special bus that goes to BLS. (Assuming they still run this special bus). Eventually, however, lots of kids from Roslindale simply took the 50 to forest Hills -- and switched to the Orange LIne and walked from whatever the nearest stop was (at least in the morning).
Oh, yeah, the 50 is "our" bus
Stops a couple blocks away from our house. I guess I've never been impressed with its timeliness is all (but based on a small sample size - it's not like I've taken it all that often).
The 50
> I guess I've never been impressed with its timeliness
A larger sample might not change you opinion.
The first few morning runs are a bit more timely (assuming they show up) than the evening return trips. It was worse a few years back.
Right, wasn't that vampire thing strange?
I guess it's a sign of the dumbing-down of America, and BLS. I could not imagine that happening in the past, unless it was a cleverly-planned disruption. If anyone really believed in vampires . . . .
Anyways, good luck with your kids, but have a Plan B, like a private school or other public school (Arts Academy, Fenway, Media) picked out for them if things don't go well.
Sounds like my daughter would
Sounds like my daughter would be better off in Gloucester, or South Hadley then.
I think that kids who attend Boston Public Schools...
...for elementary and middle school should be given priority for Latin School. Lots of people rule out the public school system *unless* their kid gets into Latin.